Rice-header.



A. J. MBEKS.

RICE HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.8,1913.

Patented Feb. 9 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. 1 z ulmmlnmngmnnlmum| 2 k1 ATTO R N EY -'HE NORRIS PETERS 60.,PHDTD-LITHOY. WASHINGTON. D. C.

A. J. MEEKS.

RICE HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. s, 1913.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 9 LIQSJWQ,

ATTORNEY A. J. MEEKS.

RICE "HEADER. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 8, 191a.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 BHEBTEr-SHEET 3.

ATTO R N EY WITNESSES HE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-Linda, WASHINGTON. DC,

ANNA J'. MEEKS, OF JENNINGS, LOUISIANA.

RICE-HEADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 8, 1913. Serial No. 805,357.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANNA J. MEEKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Jennings, in the parish of Jefferson Davis and State ofLouisiana, have invented a new and useful Rice-Header, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in rice headers and isdesigned to produce a machine of a readily portable nature capable ofbeing taken into the rice field if needed, and operative to sever thebutt ends of sheaves of rice from the head ends.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a platform orbase member so constructed as to be readily fastened to the top of awagon frame by a heavy center bolt and elevated above the platform is asupport for a motor of any suitable kind of which an ordinary explosionengine may be taken as typical. The platform or base carries one or moreelevating conveyors arranged to deliver at a suitable height to either aseparator or into a wagon, while at the lower end of the elevatingconveyer there is placed a cutter, or, if desired, two cutters, which aswell as the conveyer may be driven by the engine,

so that the wet, heavy and muddy butt-s of the sheaves of rice aresevered from the dry head ends, and the latter are carried to theseparator or into another vehicle, the severed butts either dropping tothe ground or into any conveyance by means of which they may be carriedaway.

The present invention is an improvement over the structure shown inapplication No. 755,904, for rice header filed by me on March 21, 1918,and is furthermore designed to greatly enlarge the capacity of thestructure therein shown.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification with the furtherunderstanding that while the drawings show a )ractical form of theinvention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with theshowing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as suchchanges and modifications mark no material departure from the salientfeatures of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a rice header of largecapacity with a vehicle upon which it is mounted with the partspositioned for the transportation of the heading apparatus from place toplace. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4:4of Fig. 3 but drawn on a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a plan view of asomewhat modified form of header from that shown in Fig. l and omittingthe vehicle. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal Vertical section of the structureshown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing anotherarrangement of shafting and belts.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, thereis shown a vehicle 1 provided with a platform 2, the showing of thedrawings with respect to the vehicle being void of any particular detailand indicative of any suitable vehicle for the purpose. Supported by theplatform 2 is another platform or base member 3, the two parts beingconnected by a single center pin 1 against accidental relativedisplacement, but permitting the turning of the platform 3 and partscarried thereby about an axis coincident with the longitudinal axis ofthe pin. The platform or basic member 3 has fast thereto on oppositesides timbers 5 spaced apart about the width of the platform 3, andrising from the tim bers 5 are posts 6, 7 respectively, joined by crosspieces 8 and supporting a flooring 9, the posts 6 rising above saidflooring and there carrying journal bearings 10 for a counter-shaft 11to which reference will be hereinafter made. Mounted at the lower end onthe beams 5 and at intermediate points on the posts 6 and 7 is anelevating conveyer structure 12, the moving parts of which may be madeup of side sprocket chains 13 and connecting slats 14. In the upper endof the conveyer structure there is mounted a tranverse shaft 15 carryingsprocket wheels 16 about which the chains 13 run, and this shaft alsocarries a pulley 17 connected to another pulley 18 on the shaft 11 by abelt 19, while at opposite ends the shaft 11 carries other pulleys 20and 21, respectively. Mounted on the flooring 9 is a prime mover 22which may be in the form of an explosion engine, and preferably agasolene engine, although any Patented Feb. 9,1915.

other power means suitable for the purpose may be employed. The flooring9 is made large enough to accommodate not only the engine but a tank 23for cooling water and any other parts which may be needed, but which arenot disclosed in the drawings.

The power shaft of the engine is provided with a pulley 24 from whichthere extends a belt 25 to another pulley 26 on a shaft 27 mounted inhearings on suitable ones of the posts 6 and 7 and this shaft alsocarries another pulley .28 from which there extends a belt 29 to thepulley 21 on the shaft 11, thus transmitting power from the engine byway of the shaft 27 to the shaft 11 and from the latter to the shaft 15,and thereby actuating the conveyer chains 13 and slats 14. The shaft 27is continued to a point about coincident with the lower end of theconveyer 12 and there carries a saw 30 which may be in the form of acircular saw, and this saw or cutter has a function to be described. Onthe side of the platform 3 remote from the shaft 27 and mounted inbearings 31 on respective posts 6 and 7 is another shaft 32 similar tothe shaft 27 and provided at one end with a pulley 33 from which thereextends a belt 3 1 about the pulley 20, wherefore the shaft 32 receivesmotion from the shaft 11 driven by the engine 22. At the end of theshaft 32 remote from the pulley 33 is a saw or cutter 35 similar to thesaw 30 and similarly located but on the opposite side of the conveyerfrom the saw 30. Mounted on the beams 5 on opposite sides of theconveyer 12 are respective inclined conveyers 36 and37 whichstructurally may be similar to the conveyer 12'b0th in the stationaryand movable parts, and hence are only designated generally Withoutattempt to specify the separate parts. The conveyers 36 and 37 are soarranged as to feed from opposite directions on to the lower end of theconveyer 12 and the latter is arranged to elevate the material fed uponit to a high point substantially coincident with the shaft 15, and fromthence discharged. The conveyers 36 and 37 are located on the sides ofthe respective saws or cutters 30 and 35 toward the discharge end of theconveyer 13, while on the other side of the cutters 30 and 35 arerespective conveyers 38 and 39 similar to the conveyers 36 and 37. Atthe lower or receiving end of the conveyer 12 is an upright divisionboard 40, and rising therefrom in a direction away from the con veyer 12is another conveyer ii on to which the conveyers 38 and 39 discharge,the lastnamed conveyers being on one side of the division board 40,while the conveyers 36 and 37 and the saws 30 and 35 are on the otherside thereof.

In order to drive the conveyers 36, 37 and 38 there are provided shaftsa2 and 43. The shaft 13 has a pulley 11 thereon and the shaft 42 has apulley 15 thereon, said pulleys being connected by respective belts 16and 17 to pulleys 48 and 19 on the respective shafts 27 and 32. Thelower end of the chains 13 extend about suitable sprocket wheels 50 on ashaft 51, while the lower end of the conveyer 11 is actuated by theshaft 51 toward the shaft 15, the active parts of the conveyers 36, 37,38 and 39 will move from the outer ends toward the inner ends of theconveyers and discharge upon the conveyers 12 and -11, the conveyer 41will move away from the conveyer 12 and the cutters '30 and 35 will movein the opposite direction to the direction of travel of the conveyers 36and 37, it being understood that these cutters rise to an extent abovethe active or upper surfaces of the respective conveyers.

The vehicle 1 provides a means whereby the structure may be conveyedfrom point to point and then the platform 3 is turned upon the pin 1 sothat the conveyor 12 will discharge at a desired point which may be atthe separator or into another vehicle traveling along with thevehicle 1. The engine 22 being in action, the several conveyers aremoved in the respective directions and the cutters 30 and 35 areactuated also in the proper direction.

Two operators, one at each feeding conveyer 36 and 37, place the sheavesof rice with the wet butts engaged by the conveyers 38 and 39 and thedry head ends by the conveyers 36 and 37, respectively. With such amachine the sheaves are substantially parallel with the moving parts ofthe conveyor 12, while the respective feeding conveyers force thesheaves against the saws or cutters 30 or 35 as the case may be, and thewet butt ends are severed to be delivered by the conveyer 38 or 39 tothe conveyer 11, or in the absence of such conveyer permitting the wetbutt ends to drop to the ground while the dry head ends are depositedupon the conveyer 12 with the heads presented toward the upper dischargeend of the conveyer, and such head ends are carried to the upperdischarge end of the conveyer 12 to be delivered where desired. lVithsuch a machine the capacity is practically double that of a singlemachine such as illustrated in my application No. 7 55,901, beforereferred to. Instead of feeding the sheaves in a direction atsubstantially right angles to the travel of the conveyer 12 they may befed in the same direction, but in such case the conveyor 12 is replacedby a wider conveyer shown generally at 12" in Figs. 5 and 6 with themoving parts made up of chains or links 13 and slats 14*.

There is provided a vehicle platform 2, a swivel platform 3 with a pivotpin 1, side beams 5, posts 6 and 7, cross pieces 8 and flooring 9, asbefore, and if more power be desired the flooring 9 may carry twoengines 22 and 22, as indicated in Fig. 5. The engine 22 has its powershaft supplied with pulleys 56 and 57, and the engine 22 has its powershaft supplied with pulleys 58 and 59. There is also provided acountershaft 11 similar to the countershaft 11 and mounted in bearings10 on the posts 6. The countershaft has pulleys 60 and 61 on respectiveends and on one end another pulley 62. The pulleys 56 and 60 areconnected by a belt 63 and the pulleys 59 and 61 are connected by a belt64 so that power is transmitted from both engines to the countershaft11, while the pulley 62 carries a belt 19 similar to the belt 19 of thestructure of Fig. 1, and this belt transmits power to the pulley 17 on ashaft 15 carrying sprocket wheels 16 for the chains 15 thereby drivingthe movable parts of the conveyer 12 Approaching the lower end of theconveyer 12 is a short feeding conveyer 65 which in general constructionmay agree with the conveyer 12 and hence needs no particulardescription. One end of this con veyer is driven by a shaft 66 receivingpower through a belt 67 carried about a pulley 68 of the shaft 66 andalso about another pulley 69 on a shaft 70 carrying sprocket wheels 71at the lower end of the conveyer 12 and engaged by the chains 13wherefore the movable parts of the conveyers 12 and 65 travel in thesamedirection. Travel-sing the conveyer 65 is a shaft 72 having suitablehearings on the post 7 and this shaft carries cutters 7 3 on oppositesides of the conveyer 65. The shaft 72 has pulleys 7 1 at opposite endsreceiving power through belts extending around the pulleys 57 and 58 onthe power shafts of the respective engines 22 and 22 The arrangement ofbelts and pulleys is such that the conveyers 12 and 65 move in the samedirection while the cutters 73 which may be in the form of circular sawshave their active portions movable oppositely to the active run of theconveyer 65.

Two operators can feed sheaves of rice to the conveyer 65 with the headends directed one toward the other transversely of the conveyer and thebutt ends overhanging the sides of the machine. The wet butt ends assevered would then fall to the ground, while the dry head ends aredirected to the conveyer 12 to be elevated to the discharge end of theconveyer. Since the sheaves are placed upon the conveyer 65 transverselyof its length and of the length of the conveyer 12*, both conveyers arewide enough to receive two such sheaves in alinement, and hence theconveyers are considerably wider than in the form shown in Fig.1. Theaction of the structure of Figs. 5 and 6 is-generally the same as thatof Fig. 1 and the structure of Figs. 5 and 6 differs from that of Fig. 1and associated figures principally in the proportions and location ofthe parts. The capacity is the same in both cases and a single engine ofsuitable power as in Fig. 1, or two engines, as indicated in Fig. 5, inwhich case they may be of smaller type, may be employed with eitherstructure.

The present invention is particularly adapted for handling rice in thesheaf, but may have an extent of use in other connections, and while ithas been described with particular reference to rice, the word rice asused herein is to be understood as indicative of any suitable grainincluding rice itself.

It has been assumed in the foregoing de-' scription, that the primemover, whether a gasolene engine or other device, is mounted on theplatform orflooring 9, but it is sometimes preferable, especially whenthe structure is operated at the separator, to use the same motive poweremployed to drive the separator. For this purpose the structure may beprovided with a countershaft 11 mounted on the sides of the posts 6toward the posts 7 and extending across the machine below the elevator12, as shown in Fig. 7. This shaft has bevel gears 12 at opposite endsmeshing with other bevel gears 13 on the shafts 27 and 32. Beyond thegears. 12 at each end of the shaft 11 are pulleys 14, 15", the pulleys141 receiving the belts 29 and s4, and the pulleys 15 being provided sothat either one may receive a belt 16 assumed to come from the separator(not shown) or the power source for the separator. If, however, it bedesired to drive the machine, provided with shafting as indicated inFig. 7, by one or more engines mounted on the platform 9, beltingtherefrom may be applied to either or both pulleys 15.

It will be understood that the invention is not confined to anyparticular motive power or particular arrangement of shaftmg.

What is claimed is 1. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprisinga single elevating conveyer of a width suflicient to accommodate thehead ends of two sheaves of rice at a time, and conveying means onopposite sides of and delivering directly to the receiving endof theelevating conveyer and provided with means for severing the butt ends ofthe sheaves from the head ends before reaching the elevating conveyer,the side conveyers and severing means being positioned to deliver thehead ends of the sheaves intact upon the elevating 'conveyer j-and todischarge the butt ends before reaching the elevating =lconveyer.

Q. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a single conveyerof a width to simultaneously receive the head ends of two sheaves ofgrain, means for feeding two sheaves of grain simultaneously toward theconveyer, said feeding means -each comprising two feeding means oneactive to the head end of -'a sheaf and the other to the butt end of thesame sheaf, and means associated with each fe'ed'i'ng means for severinthe butt ends of the sheaves from the head ends before reaching theconveyer and for directing the severed butts away from the conveyer.

3. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a single elevatingeonveyer of a width sufii'cient to accommodate the head' ends of twosheaves or grain at one time, feeding means fer the sheaves ieea'ted onopposite sides of the receiving end of the conveyer, and each'compri'si'ng separate feeding mean-S, one individual to the head.

end and the other to the butt end of a sheaf, and severing means forsheaves deposited on thefeedingm'eans for removing the butt ends of thesheaves before reaching the convey'er, the severing means being locatedbetWeen the separate members of each feeding means.

'4. apparatus for the purpose described, comprising an elevating"conveyer, feeding Ineans located on opposite sides of the receiving endof the conveyer and each comprising separate sheaf engaging means, oneindividual to the head ends of the sheaves and the other to the buttends thereof, severing means'for the butt ends of the sheaves locatedbetween the separate members of each feeding means to sever the buttends before the sheaves reach the line of the conveyer, .and anadditional conveyer in line with and moving oppositely I to thefirstnam'ed conveyer and adapted to receive the severed butt ends anddirect them away from the first-named conveyer.

5. An apparatus forthe purpose described, comprising oppositely directedconveyers having their receiving ends at substantially the same level,feeding means individual to the respective conveyers and located onopposite sides of the receiving ends of both conveyers', and cuttersindividual to and associated with the feeding means on opposite sides ofthe receiving ends of the conveyers and each located between the feedingmeans on the same side of the con'veyer with which the cutters areassociated.

6. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a basic structure,a sup porting structure pivotally mounted on the basic structure to turnthereon about an upr right axis, oppositely directed conveyers mountedon the pivoted structure with their receiving ends adjacent and atsubstantially the same level, associated feeding means individual to therespective conveyers and located on opposite sides of the receiving endsthereof, cutters each associated with the associated feeding means onopposite sides of the receiving ends of the conveyers, and a prime movercarried by the pivoted structure and connected to the conveyors andcutters.

7. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a pivotallymounted structure adapted to turn about an upright axis, 'a singleelevating conveyer mounted thereon and of a width sufficient toaccommodate the head ends of two sheaves of grain at one time, and meanson opposite sides of the receiving end of the conveyor for severing thebutt ends of sheaves before reaching the elevating conveyer, whereby thehead ends only of the sheaves are delivered to the elevator and the buttends are diverted therefrom.

8. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a basic member, astructure mounted onthe basic member to turn on an upright axis, aconveyer mounted on said structure to turn therewith, a prime movermounted on the structure above the conveyer, feeding and severing meansassociated with the receiving end of the conveyer and also mounted onthe structure to turn therewith, and motion transmitting means connectedto the moving parts of the conveyer and feeding means and adapted to bedriven by the prime mover carried by said structure.

9, An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a vehicle and astruc ture pivotally mounted on the vehicle to turn thereon on anupright axis, said structure including an elevating conveyer, feedingand severing means for sheaves associated With the receiving end of theconveyer, and a support for the prime mover located above the pivotalsupport.

10. A portable rice header comprising a vehicle, and a structure mountedthereon and connected thereto by an upright pivot connection about whichthe structure may be moved, said structure including an elevatingconveyer, a prime mover carried by the structure above the conveyer andthe pivot support of the structure, and separate feeding means onopposite sides of the receiving end of the coni'eyer, each feeding meanshaving a cutter associated therewith for severing the butt ends fromsheaves of grain deposited upon the feeding means.

11. A portable rice header comprising a vehicle, and a structure mountedthereon and connected thereto by an upright pivot connection about Whichthe structure may be moved, said structure including an elevatingconveyer, a prime mover carried by the structure above the conveyer andthe pivot support of the structure, and separate feeding means onopposite sides of the receiving end of the conveyer, each feeding meanshaving a cutter associated therewith for severing the butt ends fromsheaves of grain deposited upon the feeding means, and said structurehaving another conveyer and feeding means associated therewith andlocated with reference to the first conveyer and its feeding means forreceiving and directing the butt ends of the sheaves.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing 15 as my own, I have heretoaffixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ANNA J. MEEKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of I| ?atents Washington, D. Q.

